en composed in the seventh
year of Y[=o]r[=o],--A.D. 723,--eleven hundred and eighty-two years
ago.]

Hisakata no[8]
Ama no kawas['e] ni,
Fun['e] uk['e]t['e],
Koyo[:i] ka kimi ga
Agari kimasan?

[Footnote 8: _Hisakata-no_ is a "pillow-word" used by the old poets in
relation to celestial objects; and it is often difficult to translate.
Mr. Aston thinks that the literal meaning of _hisakata_ is simply
"long-hard," in the sense of long-enduring,--_hisa_ (long), _katai_
(hard, or firm),--so that _hisakata-no_ would have the meaning of
"firmamental." Japanese commentators, however, say that the term
is composed with the three words, _hi_ (sun), _sasu_ (shine), and
_kata_ (side);--and this etymology would justify the rendering
of _hisakata-no_ by some such expression as "light-shedding,"
"radiance-giving." On the subject of pillow-words, see Aston's
_Grammar of the Japanese Written Language_.]

[_Over the Rapids of the Everlasting Heaven, floating in his
boat, my lord will doubtless deign to come to me this very
night._]

Kaz['e] kumo wa
Futatsu no kishi ni
Kayo[:e]domo,
Waga toho-tsuma no
Koto zo kayowanu!

[_Though winds and clouds to either bank may freely come or
go, between myself and my faraway spouse no message whatever
may pass._]

Tsubut['e][9] ni mo
Nag['e] koshitsu-b['e]ki,
Amanogawa
H['e]dat['e]r['e]ba ka mo,
Amata sub['e]-naki!

[_To the opposite bank one might easily fling a pebble; yet,
being separated from him by the River of Heaven, alas! to hope
for a meeting (except in autumn) is utterly useless._]

[Footnote 9: The old text has _tabut['e]_.]

Aki-kaz['e] no
Fukinishi hi yori
"Itsushika" to--;
Waga machi ko[^i]shi
Kimi zo kimas['e]ru.

[_From the day that the autumn wind began to blow (I kept
saying to myself), "Ah! when shall we meet?"--but now my
beloved, for whom I waited and longed, has come indeed!_]

Amanogawa
Ito kawa-nami wa
Tatan['e]domo,
Samorai gatashi--
Chikaki kono s['e] wo.

[_Though the waters of the River of Heaven have not greatly
risen, (yet to cross) this near stream and to wait upon (my
lord and lover) remains impossible._]

Sod['e] furaba
Mi mo kawashitsu-b['e]ku
Chika-ker['e]do,
Wataru sub['e] nashi,
Aki nishi aran['e]ba.

[_Though she is so near that the waving of her (long) sleeves
can be distin